


A New Start

by xPusheenx



Category: Pearl Jam
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 13:45:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14812481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xPusheenx/pseuds/xPusheenx
Summary: She never thought she'd fall in love again. But now, she found herself having to make a decision. Eddie or Stone? Would whoever she chose love her back? And would the other accept it?





	1. Chapter 1

I had lived with my boyfriend for almost three years now. At the start of our relationship, everything was fine. We had fun, we did stuff together, we talked about everything and we were really close. But once we hit the one year mark of us living together, we drifted more and more apart. We were still friends and all, we never fought or anything like that, but we never did boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. He had his interests, and I had mine. 

One of my interests, the best one, was music. I just couldn’t live without it. I listened to it all the time, whatever I did, I had to have music on. I studied my favourite bands, I went to shows and I just breathed for that stuff. One of my all time favourite bands, was Pearl Jam. I had gotten really into them when I was about 16 and still in High School. I fell in love with the bass, the riffs gave me these insane jolts of joy and the vocals. Man, oh man. Vedder’s voice was unlike anything I had heard before, his voice was deep and strong, hard, soft and vulnerable. All at the same time. 

Being that I loved them so much, I consequently went to all the shows I could. They just blew me away, their shows were different every night. My favourite spot was right in front of the stage. That way I could really take it all in without having to constantly move because someone was getting in or out, getting a beer or whatever. Since I’d been to so many shows, the guys started to recognize me. One time I got lucky enough to get invited backstage after their show, and at that moment, my friendship with them started. They were really great guys, they were so down to earth and friendly. We’d become close, and they had even invited me and my boyfriend over to watch football games, baseball games, to bbqs and all sorts of stuff.

Lately, though, I had just been hanging out with them by myself. They never asked questions, but I’m sure they were wondering if everything was all right at home. They all lived together in this huge house they had gotten when they first started Mookie Blaylock. As the years went by, they’d stayed there. Even if they had girlfriends there was no question about it. They loved living in the same house, that way they could jam whenever they felt like it, and it triggered their creative process. 

I sat at home, devastated. My boyfriend and I had just talked about us, and we both came to the same conclusion. We were more friends than anything else, and we had been for a long time. It wasn’t fair for either one of us to continue, it would be wasting our time. The incident that led to the final end, started last night. We rarely slept together, I could count on half a hand how many times we’d slep together the last year and a half. Last night I got in the mood, and I tried to get him in the mood as well. He just pushed me away and told me he didn’t want to. When I asked why and if there was something I could do to change that, he’d basically told me that he didn’t like my body like that anymore. I knew it was bad between us, I just didn’t know it was this bad. So now I was confused and scared. I didn’t know how to go on from here. Where would I go? How would I be able to support myself with only one income? I was a practial person, I needed to know exactly where my money went and I needed to be able to put away some savings for later. This was one of the things my boyfriend hated. He loved being spontanious. I didn’t mind spontanious, I just didn’t like how carefree he was with money. 

What hurt the most right now, was how much he didn’t care that I was hurting. He just sat down by TV and played video games like nothing had happended. I got up and out of there, I needed to be somewhere far away from him. 

The tears kept pouring out of my eyes as I walked as fast as I could. I ended up by the huge house I had been inside so many times before. I didn’t even mean to go here, but my feet wanted me to. I knocked the door. No one answered. It was unlocked so I walked in. There were dishes by the sink, it smelled like pizza and I heard talking and laughing from the back door. I tried to get myself together before I walked outside, but when I saw them sitting there all happy, I felt the pain again. It was so unfair. I wanted to be happy too. ”Oh, hi Mia” Stone said surprised. ”What’s wrong?” Jeff asked. I didn’t know what to say, so I just stood there like an idiot. Eddie got up from his seat and pulled me into a hug. ”What happened, Hamm?”. ”Heh… Shut the fuck up” was all I could say. I hated that they called me Hamm. Just beacuse my name was Mia they found it fitting to call me Hamm. And they weren’t even into soccer. Eddie let out a small laugh and looked at me. ”Come on” he said and led me to one of the patio couches. I sat down next to Jeff. ”What’s going on?” he asked. ”I need a drink” I sighed. Mike got up and went into the kitchen. While we waited for him to come back, I tried to collect my thoughts. I didn’t even know what to tell them. ”Here you go” Mike said and put down a glass in front of me. I took a huge sip, and instantly regretted it as the fluids went down my throat. I started coughing. ”What the hell, man? What did you put in this?” I laughed and looked at him. ”Why do you think I went to rehab?” he winked and laughed. Eddie picked up the glass and smelled it, and even just by smelling it, it made him cough too. ”Jesus, Mike” he sighed and laughed. 

I took a deep breath and sat back against the couch. ”Did something happen at home?” Stone asked me. I nodded. ”Yeah. We, ahm… We broke up” I said. I felt the lump in my guts get heavier and it was choking me. ”I am so sorry, Mia” Eddie said. By the expression on his face, I could tell he really ment it. ”Did something happen between you too? What brought this on?” Mike asked. I had never talked about this part of my life with them before, but since they asked, I told them. ”Shit… That really sucks” Stone said from the other side of the patio table. ”Yeah. And I have no where to go, I dunno what the hell I’m suppose to do now”. I was actually scared shitless. ”Stay here. We have a spare bedroom” Stone said. ”Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea!” Eddie chimed in. ”I dunno…” I didn’t really know them that well yet, I was afraid it would feel weird. But they managed to convince me. 

Since they used the spare bedroom for storrage, it was overfilled with clutter. Stone offered to sleep on the couch so that I could use his room. They were really sweet about everything. I’d never lived with this many people before, so it was definitely going to be interesting. 

Jeff and Eddie went with me to get my stuff. ”You sure moved on quickly” was all my ex boyfriend said. Jeff was annoyed and was about to say something, but bit his tongue from snapping. 

It was late now, so all the unpacking had to wait until tomorrow. Besides, I was exhausted. I sat in the livingroom watching TV in my pj’s. Eddie came in and joined me, followed by Stone. ”You guys want some tea?” he asked. I nodded and gave him a weak smile. ”Brighten up, Hamm. Everything will sort themselves out” Eddie smiled. I sighed and put my head on his shoulder. ”I hope so”.

Stone came back with tea and positioned himself on the other side of me, with one of his legs resting on the table. ”Thanks” I said and put my hand on Stone’s thigh. ”No problem” he smiled and put his arm around me. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Ex Boyfriends And Flowers

The next day it took me a minute for me to figure out where the heck I was. I had never been to Stone’s room before, so it was only when I saw his guitar by the door that I remembered where I was. I stretched out and closed my eyes again. I was way too tired for anything. Suddenly the door opened. Slowly and quietly. Through my eyelashes I saw Stone tip toe over to his dresser, and he made a face when one of the drawers made a noise. ”It’s okay, I’m awake” I yawned. ”Oh, I’m sorry I woke you” he said as he pulled out a clean t-shirt. ”You didn’t”. 

I sat up and tried to become more alive. ”I’m just gonna hit the shower, then we can go out for breakfast if you want?” he suggested. ”I’d love to, but I’m fucking broke” I laughed. He looked at me like I’d just said that puppies were ugly. ”Like I’m gonna have you pay. It’s on me” he smiled and walked out. 

I got up and was about to go down stairs to fish out my clothes from a garbage bag when I heard someone behind me. ”Morning!” Jeff smiled. ”Morning” I smiled back. Since all my attention was aimed at Jeff, I didn’t see where I was going, so I missed the step and fell down the stairs. ”Shit! Mia, are you okay?” Jeff asked and rushed down to see if I was hurt. ”Crap… My foot” I yelped. ”Damn… Let’s get you to the couch” he said and put his arm around me. ”What’s going on?”. Eddie peaked his head out of his bedroom door. He had been woken up by the loud thud. ”I fell down the fucking stairs” I laughed. But inside I wanted to scream, it hurt so bad. ”Shit, are you okay?” Eddie asked and joined us. He was just wearing his boxers so I could easily see his muscular body. I got an instant need to run my fingers over his sixpack, but I managed to control myself. I didn’t even realise he had asked me a question before his eyes met mine, and I was busted for checking him out. He let out a small laugh and sat down besides me. ”I’m sorry, what did you say?”. Jeff came back from the kitchen where he’d found a frozen bag of peas that he put on my ankle. ”We have peas?” Eddie laughed. ”Yes. For emergencies like these” Jeff smiled. ”I hope that’s all those are for, they taste disgusting” Eddie said. ”What a baby” I mumbled. ”Hey! If it wasn’t for your broken ankle, I’d throw you in the pool. I’m not a baby!” he said. ”Because throwing someone in the pool is such a grown up thing to do” Jeff teased. ”Shut up, otherwise you’re going in it too” Eddie laughed. ”I’m gonna go get dressed. You wanna have breakfast outside today?” Eddie asked me. ”Oh, ahm… Stone is taking me out for breakfast today, I’m just waiting for him to finish showering” I said. I could tell he was a little bit disappointed, but he smiled and told me we’d do it tomorrow instead. 

”What are you doing for breakfast?” I asked Jeff. ”Nothing. I don’t really eat breakfast” he said. ”What? How can you not eat breakfast. That’s the most important meal of the day”  
”Yeah, I don’t care”  
”Come with us, you’ll see!”  
”Sure, why not”

I got up and hopped over to my packed mess and found my clothes. I was about to go up the stairs, but there was just no chance. Just then, Eddie came out of his room, now fully dressed. ”Want help?” he laughed when he saw how helpless I was. ”Would you mind?” He shook his head and came down and picked me up. I held him tight to not fall again, and I could feel the muscles I had seen earlier. When we were almost at the top, Stone came out of the bathroom. ”What’s going on?” he asked when he saw us. ”She fell down the stairs and broke her ankle”. I carefully jumped down on my good foot. ”I didn’t break it. I just twisted it, it’s gonna be fine. Just let me get dressed, then I’m ready to go” I told Stone. He smiled and nodded. ”Jeff is coming too” I said before I went into the bathroom. Just before the door closed, I could tell he wasn’t pleasantly surprised by Jeff joining us. I wondered why, they seemed so close. I didn’t have much time to think about it, Mike needed to use the shower, so I had to speed up. 

”Could someone help me?” I said from the top of the stairs. ”Hold on!” Stone said and ran up to me and put my arm around his shoulders so that I could lean on him. He smelled just lovely, and I couldn’t help but breath in a couple of times extra just to smell his cologne a little bit more. ”How is your ankle?” he asked as I jumped from step to step. ”It feels okay, at least for now”. Jeff held open the door as I said bye to Eddie and jumped after Stone into his car. 

I got to ride in the front seat. If it was because of my ankle or if he just wanted to be a gentleman I had no idea, but Jeff insisted. ”Just so you know, I’m not paying for you” Stone said and looked at Jeff in his rearview mirror. ”Whatever”. 

When we got there, Stone helped me inside. Just as we were about to sit down, Jeff nudged me. ”Hey, isn’t that Caleb?”. I looked in the direction Jeff was looking. My heart just sank. There my ex was, holding another girl, kissing her cheek and laughing at her jokes. I knew we were over, but I had no idea he would be on a date or whatever the very next morning after we broke up. What the hell. ”You wanna go some place else?” Stone asked. ”No, it’s fine”. But it wasn’t fine. I could hardly eat, and despite both Stone’s and Jeff’s eager attempts on making me feel better, I just couldn’t enjoy my food. This hurt even more than my ankle. 

As we were finishing up, my ex and his friend walked past us. He was a little shocked to see me there, he even looked kind of ashamed. ”Talk about moving on quickly” Jeff mumbled as he walked past us. ”Excuse me?” my ex said and looked at him. ”Hey! Aren’t you…?” his friend said as she realised who was sitting in front of her. ”Come on, babe. We’re done here” Caleb said and pulled her out with him. I felt like crying, I just wanted to go home. ”Let’s go” Stone said and tapped my thigh. I nodded and got up. I had completely forgotten about my ankle, and almost screamed when the pain shot through my leg. ”Crap” Stone whispered and supported me so that I could get out of there. 

I jumped in the back seat, I just didn’t want anyone to ask questions. As we drove back home, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I cried quietly and just whished everything was back to what it used to be. But then again, I wasn’t really happy then either. ”Here you go” Jeff said and handed me a napkin. He was so sweet.

”Hamm! How’s your ankle?” Mike laughed as we walked in. He quickly caught on and asked if everything was okay. I just fell back on the couch and pulled my shoe off. My food was swollen as fuck. ”We ran into Caleb at the diner” Stone said. ”No way?” Eddie said from where the hell he had been hiding. He joined us on the couch and looked at my foot. ”Mia, you need to go to the hospital, your foot is fucking obese”. I sighed. ”It hurts…” was all I could say. ”Yeah, no wonder, it’s twice its normal size” Jeff said. ”No, not that. Caleb. How the hell did he recover so goddamn quick?”. I wanted to throw up. I was dead tired and all I wanted to do was go to bed, wake up, and everything would be over. I got Stone to help me up the stairs, and went straight to bed. 

I have no idea how long I was gone for, but I eventually woke up by Stone shaking me gently. ”Mia. You have to come see this” he said. I got up and put my arm around his shoulder for support. ”I can’t wait ’til I’m no longer a cripple” I laughed. He let out a small laugh as well. Gosh, his smile was really something. When we walked outside the bedroom door, Eddie, Jeff and Mike were standing there waiting for us. ”What’s up?” I asked suspiciously. ”Ready?” Eddie asked Mike. Mike opened the door to the spare bedroom. While I was sleeping, they’d been cleaning like maniacs. I had my own room! My own bed, my own dresser. Even my own tv. And by the bed, on the bedside table there was a bouquet of flowers. ”Wow! Thank you so much, guys!” I said and looked around. ”I did the flowers!” Mike said proudly. ”Aw, thank you Mike!” I smiled and kissed his cheek. ”I knew I should’ve gotten her flowers” Eddie mumbled. I laughed and hugged him. This was great.


	3. Weeds

You would think living with four guys would be exhausting, but they were pretty great. Sure, they were messy and they talked about girls and they farted and threw socks around. But I didn’t mind. They were a lot of fun, there was always someone to talk to and they taught me a lot about boys. If I had boy problems I would usually call one of my girl friends for advice, but now that I had easy access to boys, it was easier to ask them. Of course they teased me about it, but I think they enjoyed having me there. 

It had been a few weeks since my breakup, and I was sick of just staying inside feeling sorry for myself. I was zapping through the channels one night as Stone threw himself on the couch next to me. ”Gee, settle on a channel, please. You’re giving me epilepsy” he said and chewed on his apple. ”Uuugh” I sighed. ”Wow, sorry… Jesus” he laughed. ”No, it’s not that. I’m just so bored. I wanna do something!” I turned around and put my head in his lap. He looked down at me as he took another bite of his apple. His long hair framed his face beautifully. He was actually pretty darn cute. ”Entertain me” I begged. ”Nope, I’m too lazy” he smiled. ”Jerk” I said. ”That’s me!” He watched TV and was about to take yet another bite. I pushed his hand away. ”Stop” he laughed while his eyes were locked on the screen. He did a second attempt to bite is apple, but yet again, I pushed his hand away. ”What is up with you?” he laughed, slightly annoyed. ”I’m so boooored. Stone, do something about it!” I demanded. ”Watch TV”. I turned my head to the side and watched for a bit. Stone threw the apple core on the table and folded his arms over his chest. When he did so, his t-shirt slightly lifted and I could see his stomach. I poked him. ”Whoa! Stop” he laughed and pushed my hand away. But I wasn’t about to give up. He saw what was coming, and held both my wrists and told me to stop. Eddie came jumping down the stairs, all fancy and handsome. ”Where are you going?” Stone asked. ”I have a date!” he smiled. ”Oh, right. It’s Friday today” Stone laughed. ”It sure is”. Eddie was such a ladie’s man. Almost every weekend he had a date with some girl who he’d bring home, kiss goodbye the next morning and never call again. I rolled my eyes at him. ”Was there a problem?” he laughed. ”No, no problem” I said and watched the TV. Stone had let go of my by now, so I started playing with my long hair. ”You sure?” Eddie asked. Stone looked amused and was curious on what my reply was gonna be. ”Yes, I’m sure. Like, whatever” I shrugged. All of a sudden Eddie sat on top of my lap and looked down at me. ”What do you want?” I asked. ”I want you to tell me the truth” he smiled. I couldn’t help but blush ever so slightly. His insanely good looks could make me agree on anything he pleased. ”What truth? I don’t care if you go on a date”. Stone snorted. ”I don’t!” I laughed up at him. ”Okay”.  
”Don’t worry babe, I’ll take you out on a date” Eddie winked. ”Hah, right. You’ll take me out on a date, fuck me and never talk to me again. No, I’m good”. Stone laughed. ”Oh, I’ll fuck you alright” Eddie winked. I got annoyed and pushed him off of me. ”Might as well, I’m late” Eddie stated and grabbed his keys. ”Have a good one” Stone said as Eddie walked through the door. I looked up at Stone again. ”God, what?” he laughed. ”Fine, let’s take a walk or something” he sighed and turned off the TV. 

There wasn’t much interesting happening outside either, but we found an empty playground and got on the swings. He dug in his pocket and pulled up a cigarette. ”Those are bad for you” I said. ”Yeah, well, it’s either these or a joint”. I laughed and shook my head a little. I had caught them all smoking weed a few nights ago. Which wasn’t that hard to miss, it smelled like burning rubber or something. I didn’t care that they smoked, I just hoped they’d smoke outside next time. ”What does weed do to you? Will I be able to survive if I try it?” I asked. I was curious, I wasn’t gonna lie. ”You’ll survive. But what it does to you? It depends. I don’t think it affects me that much. I see everything the same, but it’s twice as vibrant. The green trees are twice as green. And water tastes like a thousand times better. And I think more clearly. But Mike for instance, he gets really stoned. Like, out of his mind. You wanna try?”. I thought about it for a moment, but decided on no. ”Good call, good girl” he winked and took another drag from his smoke. He flicked the ashes and threw it on the ground. ”Alright, let’s see who can jump furtherst!” he said and got a decent speed on his swing. He aimed and jumped. He almost fell over and I couldn’t hold in my laughter. ”Your turn!” he said. I speeded up and was about to jump. ”I can’t do it! I’m gonna kill myself” I screamed. ”No, you’ll be fine. Just don’t twist your ankle again”. As I jumped, his pack of cigarettes fell out of his pocket, and he bent down to pick it up. I crashed into him. ”I’m so sorry!” I laughed. I shouldn’t have been laughing, maybe he was hurt, I just couldn’t stop myself. Luckily he was laughing his ass off too. We just laid there and laughed until our stomachs hurt. I looked at him and his eyes met mine. He had green/brown eyes, hazel maybe. I’d never noticed before. I’m not sure, but I think he was about to kiss me when we suddenly heard someone. We got up and looked around. We saw a man and a woman. They were pretty drunk, and they were loud. ”Come on” Stone said and pulled me with him. We hid behind some garbage cans and a tree. ”Here’s an excellent spot!” the guy said. We just looked at each other. What were they up to? The woman got down on her knees and supported her upper body against one of the swings. The guy yanked down her pants and they started going at it. With them being both drunk and supporting themselves agains a goddamn swing, made the whole scenario hilarious. Stone had to bite his lip to not laugh. We watched their failed attempt to some hankypanky for a few more minutes before we ran away. 

”Wow, that was an interesting walk” I laughed as I opened the front door. 

We were met by Eddie and his date. They were sitting on the couch making out. ”Ew” I whispered and tried to run past them. ”You know you want me, babe” I heard Eddie laugh. ”I beg your pardon?” his date snapped. Who could blame her, that was such an unnecessary thing to say. ”Calm down, I was just joking” Eddie laughed. ”I didn’t find it funny” she fumed. 

Yikes, I did not want to be there, so I quickly got into my room and closed the door. I started to hear yelling from down stairs and then a soft knock on my door. I opened it and let Mike in. ”What the hell is going on down there?” he asked. ”Eddie’s being a dick”  
”So what else is new?” Mike laughed. I heard a soft knock again, and this time it was Stone. ”I think you might’ve messed up is date” he smiled. ”I don’t care”. Except I did care. Eddie just had this energy about him that I just couldn’t resist. I wasn’t in love with him or anything, but I was attracted to him. I mean, who wouldn’t be? He was gorgeous. 

The door slammed and it was quiet. ”Did she leave?” Mike asked. ”Probably” Stone nodded. ”Is he okay?” I asked. I went down the stairs and I saw him sitting in the kitchen with a smoke. ”You okay, Ed?”. He looked at me. ”Yeah, sure babe. I’m fine” he smiled. He called me babe again. At first I didn’t care because he was horsing around, but now… ”What happened?” Stone asked. He was standing behind me by the fridge. ”She obviously had a problem with Hamm. I didn’t tell her she lives here, and then I called her babe, I dunno. Whatever. She wasn’t that much fun anyways. What have you been up to tonight?” he asked and took another drag. Stone looked at me and I let out a laugh. We told him about the swing incident. ”Man, how wasted were they?” he laughed. Since Eddie’s date was already over, we put on a movie. Jeff and Mike joined eventually. I was seated between Eddie and Stone, so I felt a little claustrophobic. But it also felt nice, the feeling of having another body, in this case, two, so close to mine I could feel every breath, was comforting. 

I was getting tired and I struggled to keep my eyes open. The next thing I knew, Eddie was trying to get off the couch without waking me up. I had fallen asleep with my head on his shoulder, and he was trying to let me sleep. Once he got up I stretched out and almost fell asleep again. I suddenly heard Stone and Jeff talking in the kitchen.  
”You okay, Stone? You’ve been quiet the whole night”  
”Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I’m just tired.”  
”You sure? Is there something going on with you and Mia or Eddie and Mia? You got all weird when she fell asleep before”  
”What? No way. She just fell asleep, right? It’s late. We watched a movie, it’s late and she fell asleep… With her head on Eddie’s shoulder”  
”So that’s what this is about? You like her?”  
”No. I mean… Yes, she’s nice and all, but…”

Nice and all? What’s that suppose to mean? I’m more than nice, I’m a fucking diamond. Not really, but… Nice? 

”But? If you don’t like her, then why are you so weird now?”  
”I dunno, maybe because Eddie can get every girl he looks at? He doesn’t even have to work for it, he just attracts them”  
”Yeah, you need to get laid, man…”

Stone let out a laugh, and I heard them walk up the stairs. What the hell was that all about?


	4. Pancakes And Sticks

The next morning I was so dead tired I could barely keep my eyes open. But I had to pee, so I didn’t have any choice but to open them. I made my way to the bathroom, but I was almost dead. Too tired to hear the shower run. I threw the door open, and was immediately woken up by what I saw. Stone. Naked in the shower, touching himself. I was frozen by the shock. I wasn’t really so shocked by what I saw as I was shocked that there was someone in there. ”What the hell, Mia! Close the fucking door! NOW!” he yelled whilst trying to cover himself. Yep, I’m trying to get out of there. I just need to learn how to move my body. I slammed the door and ran into my bedroom. Oh no, oh no. What did I just witness? I was so embarrassed I wanted to die. After a while I heard the bathroom door close and I heard the door to Stone’s room open. Should I go talk to him? No, I couldn’t do that. I just had to stay in my room forever. 

”Mia! Breakfast!” I heard Eddie yell from the kitchen. I was hungry and needed food. But Stone might be there. I had to face him sometime, but I dreaded it.

I creeped down the stairs and prayed to what ever God that Stone wasn’t there. Luckily Eddie was alone in there. ”Hey, babe. Pancakes?” he smiled. ”Yeah, sure” I said, distracted. He looked at me, wondering about my weird mood. ”Everything all right? You seem a bit out of it?” he said while he put a plate of pancakes in front of me. ”Huh? Yeah, yeah. It’s nothing”. He didn’t quite buy it, I could tell. ”Wanna eat outside?”. I nodded and picked up my plate. He walked out and I followed. I almost turned around when I saw Stone sitting there with Jeff and Mike. ”Morning, Hamm” Mike smiled. Stone looked up at me and turned bright red. ”Morning, Mike” I said and found a chair next to Jeff. Far away from Stone. 

There was an awkward silence, I didn’t know what to say. The other ones noticed it, and I bet they found it a bit awkward too. 

”As fun as this was, I gotta run” Jeff said and got up once he finished his breakfast. I saw Mike finishing up as well, and I got up just so I wouldn’t potentially be alone with Stone. ”You done already?” Eddie asked surprised. ”Oh, yeah… I guess I wasn’t that hungry. You want my pancakes?” I offered. He shrugged and grabbed my plate. 

I was about to go back inside when I heard Stone get up as well. Crap. I hurried back into the kitchen to see if I could find Jeff, but he was no where to be seen. ”Mia… Wait up” Stone said. I turned towards him, but I could barely look at him. ”Uhm… Thanks for not telling anyone about before” he said shyly. ”Why would I do that?” I asked while I started to clean up Eddie’s mess. ”I dunno… I just fingured it would make a good conversation piece”. I looked at him and gave him a small laugh. ”I bet it would’ve been just that. Look, I’m sorry I walked in on you. And I’m sorry you’re too fucking dumb to lock the door”. He nodded and laughed. ”Yeah, me too. So, are we cool? I don’t want things to stay awkward”. I smiled and said that as long as he locked the door next time, everything was fine. 

I went up to my room and watched TV. After a while someone knocked on my door, so I turned down the volume and opened up. ”Hey Eddie” I smiled surprised. ”Hey. You busy?” he smiled. ”Not really. What’s up?” I asked as I opened the door for him to come in. He sat on my bed with his dirty shoes on. ”Shoes off, please!” I immediately said. He gave me a look, but took them off. ”Alright” he laughed. ”I was just wondering if, uhm… Later we could do something? Like… You and me?” I could tell he found it uncomfortable to ask, and I found it adorable. ”Yeah, sure” I smiled. ”Really?” he said excited, but he shook off the excitement and tried to play it cool instead. I let out a giggle, he was beyond cute. ”We have some songs we need to work on soon, but I’ll get you when we’re done?” he asked. ”Yeah, sure. Sounds good”

He stayed with me for a little while, before he had to do some work. ”See you later, babe!” he smiled and closed the door behind him. 

While the guys were in the basement rehearsing songs, the phone rang. I was surprised by the woman’s voice asking for Stone. People called all the time asking for either this one or that one, but it was always guys. ”Yeah, I’ll get him. Hold on” I said and walked down stairs. I hadn’t seen them rehearse before and I didn’t know wether it was okay to interrupt or if I should wait ’til they were done. Luckily they just finished playing a song so I didn’t have to stand there like a comeplete idiot. ”Stone… There’s a girl on the phone for you” I said. He looked a bit puzzled but put down his guitar and walked up stairs. I walked up to my bedroom, and as I walked past the phone, I heard Stone laugh. I don’t know why, but knowing a girl called him and that he now was laughing at her jokes, made me a little crazy. 

I didn’t have too much time to dwell over it, Eddie knocked on my door to see if I was ready. ”You’re going out?” Jeff asked as we walked through the livingroom. ”Yeah, I need to get away from your smelly feet for a bit” Eddie said. ”What are you doing?” Stone asked. ”Can’t tell you that, it’s a surprise” Eddie smiled back. I could tell Stone wasn’t too happy, but why did he care? And why the hell did I care if he cared? I needed to snap out of it. 

Eddie opened the door on his car for me. ”We’re going for a ride?” I asked as I got in. ”Yep. Buckle up”. On our way to wherever he was taking me, we didn’t speak much. I was just sitting there wondering what the hell he was up to. ”No, I’m not gonna take you out to the woods and murder you” he laughed after a while. ”What?” I asked and looked at him.   
”You look like you’re thinking about ways that I could kill you”  
”What? No, that’s not what I was doing”  
”What’s on your mind then?”  
”Not much. I’m just wondering where we’re going”  
”You’ll find out soon enough” he winked.

He pulled up to a parking lot and we got out. ”Hold on” he said and opened the trunk. I grabbed a backpack and threw it over his shoulder. ”We’re this way” he said and started to walk towards some trees. I followed, getting more and more suspicious. He sat down by a bench and started to unpack whatever was in his bag. Pop, fruits and berries and sandwiches. ”Wow, you actually planned this” I said, kind of impressed actually. ”Sure did, babe” he smiled. I couldn’t help but feel all warm inside. It was nice to have someone care enough to go through all this for me. I never had that with Caleb. I sat down on the other side of the table. He handed me a sandwich and a pop. ”Cheers” he said, clunking his can against mine. ”Cheers”.

It was actually really nice, we talked about him, his childhood, me and my childhood, their music and my job and everything in between. I was full and laid down on my bench. Eddie did the same thing on his side of the table. I was lost in my own thoughts when he poked me with a stick he’d found.   
”Ow, what the heck?”   
”Sorry. I had to wake you up from your trance over there”  
”Sorry, I didn’t realise”  
”What were you thinking about?”  
”Stone, actually”  
”What? Ouch!”  
”Not like that. Just wondering who that girl was. You guys never have girls call you, so I was a bit surprised, that’s all”  
”A little jealous there, are we?”  
”Not at all. Just nosy”  
”It was probably one of his sisters”  
”Oh, I didn’t know he had sisters”  
”Two of them”  
”What about you?”  
”No sisters. Brothers. You?”  
”Only child”

We laid in total silence for a while. ”Ed?” I asked, and looked at him from underneath the table. ”Hmm?” he said, completely occupied with that stick he’d found. ”Was this a date?”  
He threw the stick away and looked at me. ”Do you think it was a date?”  
I sat up and looked down at him. ”At first I didn’t think so. But then you said ouch when I told you I was thinking about Stone before…”  
He sat up and looked at me. ”Look… I really do like you. I didn’t mean for this to be a date, though. Why don’t you get back in the car, and I’ll clean up your mess”.  
”MY mess? Asshole” I laughed at walked back to the car. I watched him clean up and had to smile. He was really sweet, but I wasn’t ready to date just yet. 

On our way back we listened to the radio until Jeremy came on. Eddie turned it off and sighed. ”Why’d you turn it off?” He shrugged. ”I didn’t feel like listening to my own song on the radio like some kind of mental patient”. I took the liberty to turn it on again. He just looked at me and smiled. Jesus, that smile…


	5. Moody

The next morning I woke up with one hell of a migraine, and the fact that the boys were jamming in the basement only made it worse. I tried going back to sleep again, but there was just no chance. I got up and tried making my way down to the kitchen, rather unsteady on my feet. 

I searched every cupboard for painkillers, but there wasn’t any. ”Great” I sighed. ”What’s up?” I heard a voice ask. I turned around and saw Stone. ”I just have a blinding migraine, and you don’t have any painkillers” I complained. ”I have weed” he smiled. ”No thanks” I laughed. ”I can run to the store and get some?” he offered. ”That would be helpful” I nodded. ”I’ll be back in a sec” he smiled and grabbed his car keys. 

I threw myself on the couch just praying he’d be back as soon as possible. The pain made me dizzy and nauseous. ”Hi Mia!” Mike yelled as he came into the living room. ”Ouch” I twitched. ”Migraine” I whispered. ”Oh, I’m so sorry” he said and sat down in one of the chairs. Jeff and Dave took off for the rest of the day, and I was kind of hoping I’d see Eddie. But he’d vanished. Luckily I didn’t get the chance to dwell on it for much longer, as Stone came back. ”Let me help you back to your room” he said and helped me off the couch. 

Once back in my room he went down stairs to get me some water with my pain killers. He was sweet, he didn’t have to help me, but he did. ”Here you go” he said, handing me the glass of water. I quickly swallowed the pills and fell back onto the bed. ”You need anything else?” Stone asked. ”I dunno, I can’t think”. I was in too much pain. 

To my surprise Stone just closed the door and joined me on the bed. ”Sit up” he said and helped me. He positioned himself behind my back and made me rest my head against his chest. He then started to massage my neck and my shoulders. I was going to ask him to stop, but it felt good and it seemed to help. And being this close to another human being felt really nice. 

The next thing I knew, I woke up. I felt someone close to my side and looked up. Stone had fallen asleep next to me. I just admired him, his beautiful lips, his long shiny hair. Crap… He was hella gorgeous, and I knew I was in trouble. I already was starting to get a huge crush on Eddie, and seeing Stone like this, I knew I was getting a crush on him too. ”Hey.. Stone” I whispered and nudged him. ”Huh? Oh, I fell asleep. Sorry” he yawned. ”How are you feeling?” he asked and sat up. ”Much better. Thank you”. He smiled and stretched. ”What are you doing for dinner?” he proceeded to ask me. ”No plans” I answered and sat up too. ”Want me to make us something?” he asked. ”You cook?” I asked, slightly surprised. ”Yes, I cook” he laughed. ”Sure, that sounds nice” I smiled. 

As we walked down stairs, we heard Eddie and Mike laughing in the living room. ”Oh hey, what happened to you guys?” Mike asked us. Eddie just carefully watched us. ”We blacked out” I said truthfully. ”Hi Ed” I smiled at him. ”Hey” he answered, and I could tell he was… Something. Annoyed maybe. Something was definitely up, because as I sat down next to him, he immediately got up and went to his room. ”What’s up with him?” I asked Mike. ”I have no idea” he shrugged. 

”You making dinner?” Mike asked Stone. ”Yes, but not for you” Stone answered from the kitchen. ”Oh man…” Mike sighed. ”Sorry, dude”. As Stone was cooking, me and Mike sat in the living room and watched TV. Mike was fun, he was so sweet. He told me about this girl he was seeing and I could easily tell he was really interested in her. I was happy for him. 

”Okay, get out” Stone said as he finished setting the table. ”Why?” Mike whined. ”Because…”. Mike laughed and got up. ”I know when I’m not wanted” he mumbled and grabbed his keys and went for a drive. 

Stone had made steaks for us, and I’m not gonna lie, he did a pretty decent job. We just talked about everything, laughed and made jokes while we ate. All of a sudden Eddie came rushing down the stairs. He just gave us a look and was about to go out when Jeff came back. ”Oh, you leaving?” he asked Eddie. ”Yep. I have a date”. Of course he did. ”Okay, have fun, man” Jeff said and let Eddie get to the door. ”What’s with him?” he asked us. So, Jeff obviously could sense the weird mood Eddie was in. ”I dunno. Don’t really care” Stone said and took another bite of his food. ”Huh…” was all Jeff could say before he went into his room. ”Is he okay?” I asked. ” Who? Jeff?”.  
”No, Eddie. He’s been weird all day”  
”Ugh… I dunno. Why do you care?”  
”Because he’s my friend, and I have obviously pissed him off”  
”Nah… He’s moody, he’s like this all the time. That’s why I don’t really care. He’ll bounce back”  
Stone was probably right, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that it had to do with me hanging out with Stone.


	6. Chaos

Ever since Stone fell alseep in my room, things had been tense in the house. Eddie wasn’t just moody, he was upset. He didn’t talk to me, he didn’t talk to Stone. Stone had pretty much just stuck to himself the last couple of days, and it drove me mad. Why couldn’t everyone just act like adults and talk to each other? At least Jeff and Mike behaved like normal human beings. 

I walked down stairs after spending almost all weekend in my room. I just couldn’t deal with all the tension in the house. I heard people talking outside, and looked. It was Mike and some girl. ”Hey Hamm” I heard Jeff say as he walked by me. ”Hey. Where is everyone?” I asked him. ”Stone and Eddie? No idea. Mike’s outside with his girl. Come join us?” I followed him outside, and Mike lit up when he saw us. ”About time, you’ve been hiding all weekend!”. I nodded. ”Yeah, too much tension here” I sighed as I sat down next to Jeff. Mike introduced me to his girlfriend. She seemed nice and she obviously made Mike happy. ”Hey, Mike… Have you talked to Eddie or Stone these past few days?”. I just had to ask. ”Uhm… I saw Eddie last night, he was going on a date. Stone I haven’t spoken to since Thursday. I think he went over the see his folks, but…”. My mind was racing. Why was Eddie being such a prick, and why did Stone isolate himself? Was is my fault? I couldn’t focus on what was going on outside, so I excused myself and went back inside. Just as I was about to go up the stairs to my room, Eddie came out of his. He was wearing only shorts, and my goodness… ”Hey” I said softly. He looked at me. ”Hey…” he answered. 

”Ed, can we talk?”  
”Why?”  
”Why? Things have been weird for days now”  
”They have?” He tried to get past me.   
”Stop it, you know they have. And I think it has something to do with me hanging out with Stone”  
He just let out a laugh.  
”Don’t flatter yourself, Hamm”

He pushed his way into the kitchen, completely ignoring me again. It hurt, but I didn’t want anyone to see that, so I ran up to my room.

I laid on my bed for hours, just allowing my head to spin. After a while I heard the front door, and I heard Stone’s familiar voice. I quietly opened my door to listen. He was telling Mike and Ash, his girlfriend, not to make out in the middle of the livingroom, because he did not wanna see it. I quickly shut my door as I heard Stone make his way up the stairs. I heard him go into his room, so I waited a little before getting up an knocking on his door.

My heart was racing, I didn’t want to get shut down again, like before with Eddie. ”Hold on a sec”, he answered.   
”Oh, hi Mia”  
”Hey. You busy?”  
”No, not right now. What’s up?”  
”Uhm… Can we talk?”

He looked at me before answering.  
”Sure, come on in”

He closed the door and quickly got rid of the mess on his bed. ”Why are you and Eddie not speaking?” I asked.  
”I dunno, he’s moody, I already told you that”  
”No, it’s more than that. He’s upset. And you just vanished for the past few days, something’s clearly up”

He let out a small sigh. ”He likes you. There’s no way you don’t see it” he finally said. ”What are you talking about?” I laughed. ”Don’t give me that, you know he likes you. Alot”. It still didn’t make sense, though. ”But if Eddie likes me, why are you being weird?”. I watched him as he tried to find the words. ”God…” he sighed. ”Because I like you too. There, I’ve said it. I like you, Eddie likes you and you just don’t see any of that. You just wanna be friends, so each of us feel like we have to compete to get your attention. That’s why it freaked him out that we fell asleep in your room the other day, that’s why I don’t care why he’s being an ass”. I couldn’t deal with anything right now, it was just too much information at once. I got up and ran out. ”Mia!” Stone yelled. But I just ignored him. On my way down the stairs, I was too focused on the chaos in my head to spot Eddie at the bottom of them, so I crashed right into him. ”Whoa, easy!” he yelped and quickly grabbed the back of a chair in an attempt not to fall over. ”What’s going on?” Jeff asked from the livingroom. Stone was rushing down the stairs now too. This was just too much. ”You… And you!” I said, pointing fingers at them. ”Instead of acting like children, start talking to people!”. Stone bit his lip and nodded, and Eddie just looked confused. ”Before anything, talk to each other!” I said and ran out the door. I was pissed. At myself most of all. I had let myself fall for both of them, and now Stone had told me that they both liked me. What a mess.


	7. Like A Kindergarten

I found a bench in the park, and just sat there debating on wether or not I should find my own place. ”Hey” Jeff suddenly said and came over and sat down. ”Hey. What are you doing here?” I asked him. He just sighed and put his hands in his pockets. We sat there for a while in total silence.   
”I’m gonna find a place”  
”Huh? No, Mia… You can’t do that…”  
”No, I have to. This isn’t working. You guys are doing so great, and I don’t wanna be the reason it all falls apart”  
”You just have to sit them down and talk to them. Clearly they can’t do that without help, so…”  
”I just don’t get it. Why didn’t I see it before, it’s so obvious now”  
”See what?”  
Oh great, he didn’t know. I didn’t answer.  
”See what?” he asked again. I sighed.  
”Well… Stone told me that Eddie likes me. And then he told me that he does as well…”  
”Oh yeah, that. I don’t get why you didn’t see it either. It’s so obvious”  
”Shut up, you’re making it worse. Just tell me what to do”  
”I can’t tell you what to do. But moving out before you’ve had a chance to talk to them isn’t going to solve anything, you know that. Besides, I like having you there. You cook!”  
”Fuck you”. I couldn’t help but laugh. He was right, though. I should try to talk to them. 

When Jeff and I came back to the house, Mike and Ash was about to leave. ”Good luck going in there, it’s a war zone right now” Mike said. Awesome. I looked up at Jeff. ”It’s gonna be fine. It has to” he said. He jumped on his bike. ”I’ll leave you alone”. 

I opened the door. Silence. Good. I closed it behind me as I heard a guitar. It was coming from Eddie’s room. Good, maybe he needed to cool off for a bit. As I walked upstairs and walked past Stone’s room, I tried to listen. Nothing. Okay, how was I gonna do this? Food. They both loved it when I cooked for them, it meant they didn’t have to. I knocked on Stone’s door. ”Get the fuck away from me, Ed!” he shouted.   
”It’s me…”  
”Oh…”. I heard his steps coming towards me and he opened the door.   
”What’s up, Mia?”  
”I was wondering if you wanted some dinner?”  
”Uhm… I dunno…”  
”Please?”  
”Fine. Come get me when it’s done” he said and just shut the door. I was just happy he accepted. 

Good, one down, one to go. I softly knocked on Eddie’s door. ”Fuck off, Gossard!”. My Lord, was I living in a kindergarten? ”It’s not Stone” I answered. ”What do you want?”. He seemed pissed.  
”Open the door, and I’ll tell you”  
”Open it yourself!” UGH! I opened it and looked in. I hadn’t been in there before. I’d imagined it being all messy and boyish, but it was actually pretty decent.   
”Can we talk?”  
”Whatever” he shrugged while he still was strumming his guitar. I got annoyed at took the guitar from him.   
”What the heck?”   
”I need you to hear me”  
”I hear you”  
”Good. We need to talk. I’m making dinner, and when it’s done, you’re gonna snap out of it so we can figure this out”  
”Figure what out?”  
”Ed, I swear to God”  
”Fine! Let me know when it’s done”

I just nodded and gave him his guitar back. As I was closing his door he said ”Hey, what are we having?”. I had to smile, just a little. ”Lasagna”. 

As I was about done, Stone came downstairs. ”Smells good” he said and positioned himself by the kitchen island. ”Good, I hope it tastes as good. Go get Eddie”. Stone was a bit taken aback by that, but got up. ”Eddie!”. Eddie opened his door. ”What?” he said, pretty annoyed. ”Dinner’s done” I said. ”And he’s having dinner too? Okay, no thanks” he said and closed his door. ”Guess it’s just you and me” Stone said and came back into the kitchen. ”The hell it’s not” I mumbled and went over to Eddie’s room. I didn’t even bother to knock, I just threw the door open. Eddie was about to protest, but I wasn’t having it. I just grabbed his arm and yanked him up. ”Dinner. Now”.


End file.
